Tail of the Little Merman
by Ciega Chica
Summary: Daisuke is a merman and one day he saves Satoshi, a human, when he falls off his ship during a storm. They get washed away far from home and now are trying to get back. Need I say shounen ai follows.
1. Chapter 1

Tale of the Little Mermaid/Man:

Tail of the Little Merman

A twisted around version of the Little Mermaid with a splash of DNAngel characters!

WARNING: shounen-ai but no creepy creepy hand things…

Also please take note: this has nothing to do with Noah's Ark and it WILL have a happy ending

So Please Enjoy!! .0

Chapter 1 Savior

Once upon a time the Earth was a beautiful planet with luscious forests and sparkling azure oceans. Through the course of this world's life many cultures had arisen and died through the acts of nature and the human race. Eventually the humans of Earth had created vast cities that expanded over continents, end to end. Their technology was unparalleled and no disease was incurable at the moment. Of course such peace couldn't last; tree-huggers and science geniuses warned humankind about taking care of the environment but no one listened. Unfortunately these warnings should have been taken more seriously as the pollution became unbearable for Mother Nature and she sent floods and tsunamis; endless rain and as a result the water level rose and rose. No one could drain the water from the cities fast enough and so the people instead began to build their houses higher up but not even that worked as it continued to rise. At last in a rush the countries began to all produce large ships with deep hulls for cargo such as animals for food and they even fashioned small little farms for growing vegetables implanted on the ships. Just one of these ships could hold at best a thousand people and even then it wasn't enough. So then the people's worst nightmares became realized as the water completely covered all buildings; even the tallest of all executive offices.

Unfortunately it wasn't over just yet. After many years passed with the people becoming terribly aware of the lowering shortage of food they tried eating fish since now that species was obviously thriving and at its best. Also an unexpected thing happened but it would mark an important part of human history. While fishing someone supposedly caught what looked like a mermaid in his net. Half woman, half fish of course he was frightened but when the other people on the ship saw her they made him let her go. Expecting to never see her again they went about their lives as usual but a few days later along the floating ship she reappeared; she had brought others of her kind with her and that was the first contact between the now two species of human that occupied the Earth now.

The relations between the two groups have improved. Alliances have been made between some clans of Mer-people and single colony ships but not everyone accepted these new people. They called themselves the Water Vipers; humans who went around attacking Mer-people whenever they saw one. They were known to torture them before finally killing them. They had no mercy for anyone; not women not children. It didn't matter to them and even the colony ships feared them. And unlike the colony ships these Water Vipers did not live on ships but on flats that were built on top of the tall executive offices that were only barely covered by water. They were very proficient in fishing and relied on no one else besides themselves when it came to purifying their water.

The humans however know there isn't much longer before their boats begin to rot from being at sea for so long and the years slip past…

The story that I will now tell you is about two people: one is Human while the other is of the Merfolk. They've lived in different worlds their entire lives but even then they are able to find love in each other's arms. This is the story of Daisuke Niwa and Satoshi Hikari.

"Get up Daisuke! Do you want to be late or what!? School is going to start soon so you better get going you lazy child!" When the red brown haired woman got no response she just shrugged and rolled her eyes. She turned away from the sleeping boy and proceeded to swim towards the kitchen with a few swishes of her deep emerald green tail. When she closed the door one of the boy's eyes popped open revealing a single ruby red eye.

The boy called Daisuke sighed and sat up scratching his head. He was still tired from studying late last night. Swimming to his closet he picked out a shirt to wear; a plain white top with red lines drawn on the flipped out shirt collar. Flaring his red finned tail he shot to the door and down the stairs, picked up some already pre-made fish with seaweed for breakfast and hurried to school.

The Azumano Middle School wasn't far from his home; it used to be abandoned along with the rest of the underwater ghost town but when the Mer-people had come and cleaned it up it had become a thriving city for Merfolk. The sunlight from above reached down well enough and gave Daisuke the feeling that he really was above ground. The water was warm and the currents gentle but even though he was supposed to be happy here he still always wanted to go up and see the outside world. He heard that the sun was brighter and that either way as far as the eye can see only blue water could be seen. It sounded like a beautiful dream, he smiled.

Entering the school yard he looked around quickly and immediately began making for the gate knowing that he had to get to the school before…

"DAISUKEEEEEEEE!!" His friend Takeshi hooked his arm around his neck and began yelling at the top of his lungs. "DAISUKE, CAN YOU PLEASE TAKE MY PLACE FOR CLEANING DUTY TODAY!! THAAAAAANKS!!" He tore into the school building, knocking over Mer-students going to their classes and laughed maniacally the whole way. Daisuke's eye twitched as he watched his "friend" race away. Then he sighed and just gave up on the idea of fighting back. What was the point? After all he didn't mind cleaning the class room. It was kind of entertaining because the students liked to party around and actually trash the place first before cleaning it up for real.

In the classroom his other friends greeted him calmly unlike Takeshi who was too loud for his own good. The twins Riku and Risa, Riku with short brown hair and Risa with long brown hair and both with light blue fish tails, waved at him. A tug on the end of his scarlet fish tail made him aware of another of his "friends". Dark Mousy was Daisuke's brother (A/N: he is the same age as Daisuke in this fic); his full name was Dark Mousy Niwa and unlike Daisuke he was always early to school for some unknown reason. He had violet hair, eyes, and a shade of purple so dark it was almost black for his tail; totally unlike his brother in every way. He smirked.

"Hey Daisuke, good to see you so chipper this morning", he snickered his violet eyes flashing at him. "Did you study for the geography test last night Daisuke or did you fool around and forget?"

Daisuke felt insulted that his brother/best friend would tease him like this. He rolled his eyes, "Of course I did Dark but the question is did you."

Dark blanched at Daisuke's cold tone and grinned sheepishly. "Haha, you got me kid." He sighed as the teacher walked in.

Taking their seats the students listened as the teacher started the lesson and officially the school day started. Daisuke wasn't really that interested. Turning he looked out the window at the endless shadowy blue water with light from the sun above shining through occasionally. Before long the lesson ended and the bell rang letting students leave for home or stay to clean the class rooms.

Daisuke cleaned the class room in a hurry today. Usually he took his time but today he felt restless and for some reason he felt there was a reason he should hurry today. Outside he frowned at the watery sky and slowly, lazily he swam along the high edges of one of the large office buildings. Eerie shadows danced inside the broken windows and many colorful fishes were swimming freely amongst the wreckage. He swam on his scales flashing like fire when they hit a ray of diffused light. Reaching the very top of the building he floated a little on the water currents just below the water's surface. The rays of light swam on the surface drawing him up…up…and then he broke through to the surface.

The first thing he thought of was that the light from the sun wasn't at all bright like he'd imagined it to be. As far as he could see though the waves were dark and choppy; he had a hard time keeping himself in the same place as he fought against the large waves crashing him at all sides. The sky too was unfortunately dark and black masses of clouds rolled as lightning lit them up from the inside and thunder tolled out over the silent expanse. Daisuke had heard thunder and seen lightning before but not like this. Below the sea it was hard to see such sights with the water diffracting all the light and sound so all you could hear were rumblings and splashes of light against the waves.

In awe the redhead watched the spastic lightning as it lit the clouds even brighter than before. Daisuke was not supposed to come up above the water but today something had drawn him, something…

Suddenly another noise behind him made him spin around and right in front of him was a huge ship out of nowhere. He quickly waved his tailfin back and forth in a hurry to get out of the way…and then pain suddenly lanced through his body from his tailfin. He gasped as he waved it gently back and forth to stay afloat but he was having a hard time of it as each time he moved it pain raced through him again and again.

Gasping he was about to dive back down to the town not caring what excuse to tell his mother when suddenly a flash of lightning and loud thunder stopped him. Slowly turning to look at the ship he saw it on fire! Bright red streaks were spreading out from the mast to the sails and down to the rest of the ship. The water turned blood red from the flames and people rushed about trying to put it out.

People were panicking and as Daisuke watched one person was suddenly pushed overboard as someone rushed to help. Not noticing the person he just pushed over by accident the man hurried away but Daisuke immediately raced for the now sinking boy. Diving he raced working his tailfin harder than ever before, ignoring the pain he reached the boy and carried him in his arms to the surface.

Finding a long piece of the broken mast he helped the boy onto it. He was unconscious and his ice blue hair waved in the terrible rocking motion from the waves. Daisuke was worried; he must have been hit pretty hard to be knocked unconscious so fast. He frowned as he felt himself slowly being pulled into sleep. He knew he shouldn't fall asleep here but he couldn't help it; with a yawn he drifted and dreamed of everything that was blue.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm sorry but in the first chapter I forgot to post a disclaimer for the author. Ahem. I DO NOT OWN DNANGEL I DO NOT OWN DNANGEL I DO NOT OWN .ahem. Anyways, enjoy the second chapter!

Chapter 2 Satoshi

When the blue haired boy woke up all he saw was blue water as far as he could see. Not an odd sight for someone who wakes up to it every morning but this morning was profoundly different for him. For instead of being in a crowded bunk room he was floating in the sea on a piece of long driftwood and even weirder was that next to him was a thin and redheaded boy about his age. He blinked his dark blue eyes and wondered how he'd gotten here. Slowly he began to remember last night; the sudden storm that came out of nowhere and the person who had accidentally knocked him overboard. But what he didn't understand was who this boy was? Had he been on the ship too? If so then why hadn't he seen him before? Frowning Satoshi shook the boy's shoulder and slowly he raised his head blinking dazedly at him. Satoshi was surprised to see large ruby eyes look at him.

The boy said nothing and would have gone back to sleep if something didn't suddenly make him jolt upright. His face turned white and he bit his lower lip as if in pain.

Immediately Satoshi looked at him worriedly, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

The boy said nothing to him but slowly turned and awkwardly raised himself to sit on the round pole. Satoshi was shocked to see a sparkling red wine colored fish tail. Gaping at it he stared at the light framed boy's glittering tail, pointy red hair, and shining eyes. Heat started creeping across his face and he had to dunk his head under the water for a few seconds to make it cool down.

Raising it to look at the boy again he almost lost it when he saw the boy had taken off his shirt and was now trying to tie it around the part of his tail where the delicate tailfin met the rest of the scaly tail. He looked like he was in pain again and speaking to him said, "Do you need help? Here let me do that." He took the shirt from him and began to wrap it neatly and proficiently around the wound.

Looking at it closer he realized that the scales at the end of the tail had been torn off and dark red blood had dried around it; caking to the horrible wound and making it look even worse. The salt was obviously not helping any either. He shivered at the grotesque picture. The boy silently watched as he did this and when he was done he raised his tail to look at it. He grinned at Satoshi; a smile that almost made his heart stop. _What am I doing? Why am I feeling like this around him?_ Blushing he looked away but not until the boy noticed the other's own smile and grabbed either side of his face in his hands, turning Satoshi to look at him. Thinking he was going to kiss him Satoshi tried to get away but all the boy said was, "You look great when you smile y'know!?"

Satoshi felt dumb; why had he thought the boy was going to kiss him…and why on earth did he feel disappointed? He quickly shook his head to clear away those thoughts. _Gotta' focus on what's important._ Tentatively he said "Um are you really…one of the Merfolk?" He watched those red eyes turn to him.

"Yes, I am." Then with another goofy grin "My name's Daisuke; and you?"

"Um, Satoshi", he mumbled.

"Sato…shi…" He said it slowly as if the name was strange to him but then he nodded. "It has a pleasant ring to it. I like it and I like you too, I'm glad I saved you." He returned to looking out at the horizon in time not to see Satoshi's blush.

Looking away he thought, _just great now I'm stuck with a merman and I think I'm beginning to fall for him._ He scowled inwardly and didn't notice that Daisuke had suddenly slipped into the water until the weight suddenly lifted and he was left alone floating on the water.

Sorry it's so short but I'll have the next chapter up in a jiffy. This story has actually been finished for a year now when I was pretending to write for but now that my mother has agreed to allow me to have an actual official account I can upload all of my chapters and share them with you! YAAAAAAAAAAAY! Let's see, there are twelve chapters not including the epilogue so sit tight and enjoy as they come out. Hopefully all will be revealed this week. Wooooo!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Told you I'd update soon. Bet you didn't expect it to be the next day though huh, huh? Well, I have to go to bed now so gotta hurry.

Chapter 3 "Where Are We?!"

Immediately after Daisuke disappeared Satoshi began to panic. Had the boy just been waiting for him to wake up and then leave? Satoshi didn't want to be left alone out at sea like this. _But he probably has a family to go back to so why shouldn't he when he's already saved my life? He has nothing to do with me anymore. _But that only made him feel worse. Shaking his head he lay down to go back to sleep.

Later when he woke up he realized how cold he felt. Looking at the sun it seemed that he'd only been asleep for two or three hours. He felt groggy and sun burned for sure. A calm breeze drifting over the waves cooled him as the sun began to go down and twilight set in. He didn't care much about his awful sunburn but his heart ached more for the merman that had left him alone in the middle of the ocean. He'd only spoken to him for a few minutes but those few had probably been the best moments of his life.

About to drift back into sleep a loud splash from his right made him jump and he turned to see Daisuke grasping on to the wood and looking tired. Satoshi couldn't stop himself as he exploded before Daisuke could say anything "WHERE WERE YOU!! I THOUGHT YOU LEFT ME HERE NOW YOU SUDDENLY APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE AFTER MAKING ME WORRY AND WORRY…YOU YOU…!! Satoshi could feel the tears in his eyes as he clutched the mast with white knuckles.

Hesitant warm arms wrapped themselves around Satoshi and a feeling of safety pervaded into his being. Resting his head against Daisuke's chest he let the tears fall; his heart felt like it had broken into a million pieces and now Daisuke was slowly putting them back together for him.

"I'm sorry Satoshi. I didn't mean to leave you alone like that." Daisuke's grip around him tightened. "I was…looking for my home." Satoshi looked up at him and saw a distant look in Daisuke's eyes. Closing his eyes he continued saying "I searched around this area for miles and couldn't find even a hint of any old ruins so I guess its safe to assume that we got blown out into the real ocean." He sighed. "In other words the ship you fell off is probably way back from the way we came as is my home town. But I'm also worried about how I can get us both to safety. It's dangerous even for mer-people to travel through outside waters. Many dangerous animals are hard to handle unless you're in a big group, not to mention rogues, and since there's only two of us…" he trailed away as he bit his lower lip, his brows furrowing with worry.

Satoshi puzzled about the "rogues" but said nothing. He didn't know **what** to say. He had learned about many of the different dangers of the ocean. The only thing protecting him before had been the wooden planks of the ship but now they were in open waters; what were they going to do? _Pull yourself together Satoshi. You have to be strong. No more crying and definitely no more of these stupid feelings. First of all we need food and water. _"We should probably take care of food and water first don't you think?" He disentangled himself from Daisuke's arms and wiped away the blush on his cheeks with a furious internal stomp on his emotions; returning to cold and serious, the way he was before Daisuke saved him.

Daisuke wondered at the change but said nothing; "You're right but that problems easily solved. Merfolk are good fishers and we have our own ways to purify water easily. However the ocean is big and in order to prepare for days on end of searching for people we'll have to find weapons of some sort to defend from danger."

"Hmm sounds reasonable I guess. What do you suggest we make?" Satoshi was still keeping tabs on his emotions; he could almost feel his eye beginning to twitch from the strain.

Daisuke took awhile to think about it. "Coral sounds like it would work best since it's so hard and I'm sure I found some earlier when I was swimming. Though finding it again might take awhile. Will you be alright by yourself?" Daisuke's voice showed worry even if Satoshi was acting a little cold towards him suddenly.

Satoshi nodded without looking at him "I'll be fine after all I was up here for almost three hours and nothing happened." He knew his biting voice was hurting Daisuke but he said nothing and just disappeared beneath the darkening water without a sound. Satoshi closed his eyes and let himself fall back into sleep again as the sun finally set on the horizon and the sun in Satoshi's heart disappeared for the second time in his life.

To be continued...

A/N: I think I'm going to try these new cute "to be continued" endings to my chapters. Sounds so ominous doesn't it? Well next update is tomorrow folks! Have fun!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Journey

Daisuke swam through the deepening gloom trying to remember where he'd seen that coral piece. The sea floor was alive with activity even as the sun set; fish of so many colors that it was like a rainbow but even through all of these fish Daisuke could immediately sense the presence of a group of sharks coming. _Gotta hurry._

Steeping his pace up a bit he swam up to a rocky ledge where many corals were growing. Examining them he found two dead pieces of pillar coral and then he took a loose rock and began to slowly shape them into points at one end. Just as he was about to finish a sudden chill swept through him. Whirling around he found himself face to face with a hammerhead shark. He gulped; his eyes wide.

Slowly Daisuke swished his tailfin to move him to the right, away from the shark. The shark watched him hungrily and then Daisuke dashed for cover in a cave he saw past the coral. The shark gave chase and Daisuke almost didn't make it because the cave was small and only a dug out in the rock wall. The shark could have easily reached him if Daisuke hadn't seen the whole in the ceiling. Swimming through it he found himself in a longer cave with no entrance except through the hole in the bottom cave.

Knowing he was safe now he let out a relieved sigh but then he suddenly remembered why he was even down there. What if the shark went after Satoshi!? Once he thought that he came out through the bottom entrance cautiously. He didn't sense the shark so he must have gone to find food elsewhere; he hurried to the surface his mind only on Satoshi.

Searching for the floating mast he spotted it not too far from his position. Panicking slightly that the shark might decide to come back he quickly swam over working his tail hard even though it hurt. Then he began tearing apart the remnants of his shirt into strips. With these he tied Satoshi's wrists carefully to the mast as well as the two sharpened pillar corals then he began to swim hard and furiously; determined to get them as far away as he could from the hungry shark. Daisuke vaguely thought to himself that it was good Satoshi was asleep and that he didn't have to explain why he was doing this.

_It's going to be a long night _he sighed.

Satoshi woke up to bright sunlight. Salt had crusted on his eyelids and in his hair making it difficult to open the lids. When he tried to reach up to rub them he realized he couldn't move his hands. _EEEEEHHHHHH!!_ _Why are my hands tied to the mast?_ He looked over at Daisuke and saw him laying his head against the mast, his eyelids flickering constantly and deep shadows currently forming bags underneath his eyes.

Satoshi bumped Daisuke's shoulder trying to wake him up. Daisuke groaned and slowly scratched his head; he looked at Satoshi questioningly. Satoshi asked "Why are my hands tied like this Daisuke." It took a few moments for Daisuke to process what he'd said then he looked down at the restraints.

His eyes widened in shock then "AAAh, I'm so sorry!!". He started babbling out reasons and Satoshi stopped him by hitting his forehead against his.

"Stop and slow down. Sheesh I can't even understand half of what you're even saying. Now breathe and try again."

Daisuke scowled trying to recover from the painful head butt but he obeyed and took a deep breath, continuing with his story.

"Well I went and found the coral last night just like I said I would but then this big shark started chasing me and I was barely able to get away by hiding in a cave. Then when I got back I was afraid he might have followed so I tied you to the mast with my shirt to make sure you didn't fall off and then I swam all night and…". Daisuke yawned expansively.

Satoshi sighed "Right now maybe I'll let you sleep some if you untie me please?" Daisuke grinned instead of yawning and jumped to his side in an instant doing his best at removing the cloth. Satoshi rubbed his chafed wrists. Ouch.

Daisuke's eyes drooped further. "Alright just go to sleep now and I'll take care of the rest." He took the cloth strips and tied Daisuke to the mast with them. "There now you can sleep as long as you like." Daisuke looked relieved. But something still bothered Satoshi; when he realized what it was he sighed "Daisuke I'm sorry about earlier."

Daisuke looked at him not understanding "What do you mean?"

Satoshi covered his eyes with a hand "I acted like a total jerk to you earlier and yet you go through all this trouble just for me and what have I done but yell at you."

Daisuke shook his head; a smile slowly spreading across his face "It's alright; I know that you were just frustrated; being separated from your home is tough and I know that you had every right to be angry. I should have told you where I was going but I…" he shook his head "anyways I'm sorry too so please don't think that I left you because I don't like you." His smile faltered slightly.

Satoshi felt the sudden urge to hug him but he held back and instead said "Thank you Daisuke"

"Thank you too…Satoshi…" there was a 'wump' and Satoshi turned his head to see Daisuke's head fall to rest on the mast in deep sleep. He couldn't help it; he chuckled slightly at the funny sight.

_Looks like it'll be a long day_ he sighed.

Eventually they found more of a reason to keep up with this routine instead of just evading a hungry shark. After all it would be great to find at least some people who might help them then on occasion Daisuke dived to check their surroundings for probable enemies or mer-folk civilization but not a thing did they find. Thanks to Daisuke they were able to drink the salt water he purified and somehow he was also able to cook the fish good enough to eat. Satoshi wondered about how Daisuke did these things and one afternoon asked him about it.

"Ummm…well, it's kind of hard to explain; you see Mer-people take in salt water to survive so we can't really be out of the water for too long or else we dry up…but we can live in fresh water as well though. See when we pass salt water through our gills…" here he pointed at small, almost unnoticeable slits in his neck "…we create fresh water for our body to use. To extract that water we press our hands to them and…" he shut is eyes tightly and slowly water began to leak out of the sides of his gills and into the cup that he'd told Satoshi to hold. Soon the entire cup was filled with clear fresh water.

Satoshi blinked at it, surprised that this was how the Mer-people did it. _Now I see why the captain always said that only Mer-people could give them fresh water. _He'd always wondered about it. "Um Daisuke; what about cooking the fish?"

Daisuke grinned "Oh wow that's the really weird thing we can do. You see we're able to fluctuate our body temperatures like a reptiles; and if we heat up well enough we can actually **cook** fish using our hands like this see?" He held up a de-scaled fish and slowly smoke (or something like it) began to rise off it. To Satoshi it actually smelled pretty good. "Eh heh; cool huh?" He grinned and cocked his head slightly to the left watching Satoshi's face as bewilderment and a whole bunch of other expressions chased themselves across his face. _If only he would always look like that. It makes him look so cute, hehe. _

After they'd eaten Satoshi began to swim again while Daisuke continued to rest; building up his energy for his turn at night.

When Daisuke awoke it was because of Satoshi's tapping on his shoulder. Raising his head he waited silently for Satoshi to remove the bonds then he tied Satoshi so he could sleep, then he began the nightly swim through the dark water.

He still felt sore from all the other nights of constant swimming, not to mention his poorly healed tail, but he pressed on towards the hidden horizon. Black night swallowed him as his thoughts began to turn to home. _Mom, dad, grandpa, brother..._ His heart felt so heavy; like lead. _Will I ever see them again? _Tears filled his eyes as he cried silently. Unbeknownst to him Satoshi lay there watching him with understanding eyes.

When the day came once again Daisuke woke Satoshi from sleep and once again they switched roles. When Daisuke was about to fall asleep for the day Satoshi suddenly spoke in the silence "Daisuke" he whispered, "I understand." Daisuke looked at him puzzled.

Explaining he said "Both of my parents are dead and the only one left is my older brother Krad. He isn't exactly very nice sometimes but he does love me as his brother…and I love him too." Satoshi looked at Daisuke but Daisuke had turned his head away. "It's alright you can go to sleep now…"

"I have both of my parents still…" Daisuke whispered, interrupting Satoshi, with his head still turned away, "…my grandpa and my brother too. It's funny that we both have caring older brothers. I can't tell sometimes if he actually does like me though cuz' he's always laughing and you never do see him serious ever." He sighed "I guess I'm just a tad homesick is all." He looked at Satoshi; there were tears in his eyes. "Well good night…er…good day" he lay his head down and instantly fell asleep.

Satoshi smile at Daisuke's joke but it was sad smile filled with heartache and all the other emotions he had tried to get rid of while in the redhead's presence. Sighing he turned his concentration to swimming and banished his thoughts for later analysis.

A/N: Next chapter soon .0


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Meanwhile…

"WHERE IN THE WORLD HAS MY BABY GONE"!! Wailed Emiko, Daisuke's mother as she blew her nose and dabbed the tissue at her eyes as well.

"Now now all we have to do is go look for him" Kosuke, Daisuke's father, said as he tried to calm his wife down.

She sniffed, her eyes puffy from much crying. "But Kosuke you know we're not allowed to go look for children who aren't able to found. What about the Phantoms? What if **their** the ones that have Daisuke!" The short haired red head gasped and began wailing again.

"Exactly, which is why I'll be going to look for him" Dark, Daisuke's older brother appeared at the stair way looking ready to go with a small knapsack on his back and a well fashioned spear of red coral. His deep red eyes flashed as he took in the depressing scene.

"Dark you can't; I don't want to lose another son" Emiko had calmed down a little but her voice was still bordering on hysterics.

"Don't worry mother; even if Daisuke's been kidnapped or whatever he knows how to take care of himself. All mermen do so you don't have to worry so much. I'll find him, deal with his captors, and then bring him home safe and sound okay?" and before anyone could protest he swam at top speed out the door and to the surface world.

A/N: Sorry this chapter was so short! When I wrote it it was just supposed to be a little filler to get the story moving with me in writer's block and all.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 "People - Found!"

The routine continued and Satoshi examined the slash marks he'd made for each day. This was their third week and he wasn't sure he or Daisuke could make it if there were more weeks involved. He had given up looking at the horizon awhile ago and that's why he didn't notice the large structure that loomed up in front of him on the horizon suddenly until he crashed into one of the supporting pillars. Looking up he saw he was underneath a flat made of old metal plates slapped haphazardly together supported by rotting wood pillars mixed with metal ones as well.

He began to untie Daisuke and then he shook his shoulder to wake him up. Daisuke yawned "Is it already time to switch?" he asked tiredly.

"No Daisuke, I think I've found people." Daisuke's head jerked up immediately.

"Really!"

"Yes now shush. I don't know if they're good or bad yet so stay here and I'll find a way up myself. If I don't come back for you then turn around and leave without me okay?" Satoshi looked dead serious as he said this.

Daisuke worried at Satoshi's expression. "Why are they dangerous? How do you know?"

"This kind of structure shows that the occupants are most likely Water Vipers."

Daisuke's eyes widened "Ah so that's why you want to go; I see…alright. I'll wait for you here though at least until nightfall okay?"

Satoshi knew there was no way he could make Daisuke change his mind; when it came to his friends safety he was very adamant in his decisions. He sighed "alright but at the first sign of trouble even if night hasn't come yet then run…er…swim…away I mean." He coughed and began to move towards the stairs that led to a trapdoor in the middle of the metal floor.

Daisuke smiled; reaching out he gripped Satoshi's hand "Good luck."

"Yeah" he smiled and slowly stepped onto the old metal plate stairs. His legs wobbled from the lack of use out of the water and he almost fell but carefully steadying himself he pushed the trapdoor open. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Daisuke silently slide down into the shadowy blue water; he made no sound and only a single ripple showed he'd been there. _Oh well, I hope he sticks to his promise._

Raising his head through the trapdoor he looked around. He was in a sparse room that contained only a bucket of water, a rickety old bed and an old beat up desk. Next to the desk was a door and that's where Satoshi headed towards but as he opened it he was suddenly grabbed, trussed, and tossed to the floor against a wall all before he could even blink or even struggle. The sunlight beat down and Satoshi saw he was in a sort of courtyard filled with pails and plenty of nets that needed mending. The room he had been in was actually part of a long building in the shape of an incomplete square with three walls instead of four. The room was to his left in the middle of the long structure and he lay against the side wall to the right of it.

A man spoke to him; looking up he saw he had long blonde hair and golden eyes. He was dressed in plain trousers and t-shirt and looked absolutely shocked at who his prisoner was. "Satoshi?" he blinked.

"Krad? Krad" he sighed. He felt relieved but at the same time his heart tightened after all what was his older brother doing with the Water Vipers?

Krad bent down and began to untie him. A man behind him asked "Boss who is this kid? He was in your quarters; why are you letting him go?"

"He is my brother Gastenn" Krad responded without much feeling.

"Y-Your brother. My God I'm sorry. I had not intended to hurt your brother; I thought he was a trespasser." The man looked nervous as if he was afraid Krad would hurt him for the mistake.

Standing back up and pulling Satoshi to his feet he said "It doesn't matter; there was no way you could have known and besides he is a trespasser whether he is my brother or not." Turning away from Satoshi he began to walk away.

Satoshi finally snapping out of his shock yelled "why are you here Krad!? Why are you with the Water Vipers!? I-I thought you were going to look for mom and dad" tears filled his eyes.

Krad turned back to him and raised a finger to catch a single tear. "I'm sorry Satoshi but I lied about that. I really joined the Water Vipers to find and kill the ones who murdered our beloved parents." His eyes were cold like ice and Satoshi felt himself shiver. "And since you're already here why not help me kill all the mer-people that made us suffer."

At that Satoshi immediately knew he had to get out of here. Even though his brain was buzzing with the new information he'd learned he couldn't stay any longer; he had to run, to warn Daisuke. Dashing to the right he ran along the wall and to the edge of the metal flat. Before Krad could catch him he jumped off towards the water and yelled "DAISUKE!!"

A red haired head popped out of the water in response and grabbed Satoshi's hand as he hit the water with a loud splash; dragging him through the water his tail broke the surface, his scales flashing like fire as he prepared to dive but Krad wasn't about to just sit and watch.

He dived in after them swimming hard and just as Daisuke was about to go under he grabbed Daisuke's tail on the part that wasn't completely healed yet. Daisuke gasped aloud; diving anyways he dragged Krad along beneath the water as he tried to loose him from his tail.

Satoshi looked between the two and deciding that he wanted both himself and Krad to live he helped pull Daisuke to the surface. They treaded water as they tried to gain back their breath. Daisuke was watching Satoshi with an angry expression "Daisuke I'm sor…"

"HOW COULD YOU HELP HIM SATOSHI; HE WAS TRYING TO HURT YOU AND YOU…YOU…!" tears ran down his face as he sobbed not only for his friend but for the pain in his tail each time he moved it.

Satoshi embraced him silently "I'm sorry Daisuke, I didn't want you to kill him so I…" He smoothed Daisuke's hair away from his eyes and smiled "Please understand Daisuke he's my brother see." Daisuke's eyes widened and he pushed Satoshi away from him.

"N-no I'm-I'm the one who's sorry. Please forgive me Satoshi." he lowered his eyes to look at the lapping waves around him.

Satoshi placed his hand on Daisuke's shoulder "It's alright. I just panicked is all and now that I think about it I probably should have kept a cooler head but I just felt so cornered that all I could do was run; sorry…" He turned to Krad "I'm also sorry to you brother; I should never have taken off like that without explaining anything but… I'd like you to meet my friend; his name is Daisuke and I want you to understand Krad that he is MY friend so don't you DARE touch him, got that?" his voice turning threatening as he glared at him waiting for a response.

Krad stared back at Satoshi with a level gaze and then nodded silently.

Satoshi sighed with relief "Thank you."

A/N: Now that I've read it again it sounds so over dramatic. Oh well. I really don't care since it's an old story.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Krad

Krad led them back to the trapdoor and there he said "Wait take him with you" he pointed at Daisuke who was just turning away expecting Satoshi to want him to stay there like last time. Satoshi looked unsure about this but didn't argue. He took Daisuke's hand to pull him onto the platform and Daisuke took a last breath with his gills before he lifted him.

Scarlet red scales flashed as Satoshi pulled Daisuke into his arms bridal style. "Ah Satoshi be careful, my scales are sharp."

He said that just in time as Satoshi had been about to settle his grip as if the tail was made of cloth instead of rock hard scales. He hooked Daisuke's arm around his neck so he wouldn't fall. Looking over at Krad he saw brief interest show on his face at the interesting scale color but said nothing.

Stepping once again into the room Satoshi followed Krad outside to the courtyard. The men there gasped when they saw Daisuke and even Daisuke looked a little surprised after all it was his first time seeing legs even on Satoshi since his lower half had always been hidden by water.

"Satoshi Satoshi" he said excitedly "these people have legs; isn't that amazing!?" he grinned foolishly like a kid at the fair for his first time. Satoshi just rolled his eyes. _Whatever._

"Hey Gastenn, get some men to help take the metal water tub and fill it to the top with sea water okay?" Krad asked the man.

"Um sure boss; I'll bring it right away" he left to the very end of the dock part of the flat with two others and lowering a large metal tub slowly into the ocean with a rope pulley, they let it sit for a moment then they began to pull it back up. Their muscles bulged as they labored but soon the tub was gently dropped to the ground and was brought over into the ring of men.

"Alright set him in it Satoshi." He looked at Daisuke pointedly and Satoshi nodded. Bringing him to the tub he gently let him slide in; it was perfectly round and Daisuke sat there, his tail folded underneath him and his head lay on his folded arms as he stared over the rim at the congregation. Satoshi sat down next to him Indian style.

"Now tell me what happened you two. How did you end up way out here with nothing but a piece of flotsam?"

"Well there was a storm about three weeks ago and I got pushed overboard by accident in the rush to put out a fire. I blacked out after I hit the water and when I woke up I was with Daisuke and we were both far away from where we were. Through these three weeks I swam during the day and Daisuke swam at night. Luckily we didn't encounter anything that wanted to eat us and we eventually ended up here; we definitely weren't expecting to meet you though …" Satoshi trailed away as he lost himself in thought.

Krad turned to Daisuke when he saw Satoshi wasn't going to say anything more. "Do you agree with his story" he asked solemnly.

Daisuke blinked in surprise "Of course I do, Satoshi wouldn't lie." Everyone stared at him. "What?" Daisuke was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Hmph it's nothing" Krad snorted slightly; a smile tugged at his lips.

Satoshi scowled at his older brother "Krad are you really hunting merfolk or not? 'Cause if you are then I'm not sticking around."

Krad sighed and closed his eyes "Satoshi" he opened his eyes "Our parents were killed by Mer-people but not by the civilized ones like him" he motioned to Daisuke.

Satoshi looked taken a back by this but didn't stay that way for long "What do you mean; all merfolk are the same!" he ignored the indignant sound Daisuke made at this comment. Frowning he raised his hand wanting to say something but Satoshi didn't notice.

Krad shook his head also ignoring Daisuke "These ones weren't; they were savage and killed any human mercilessly including our parents."

"Well did you ever think that maybe their just trying to get revenge like us since the Water Vipers **kill** merfolk without mercy!?" Satoshi was close to shouting now and was still ignoring the frantic Daisuke who was now making small noises to get his attention.

"Satoshi the Water Vipers never started the killing of the merfolk; it was those rogues that striked first fifty years ago" he stared back at him coolly.

Satoshi stared at him as if he'd grown another head "Are you insane? Everyone knows that the Water Vipers started the killing first because they were angry at the human race's docile acti…Would you stop that!?" he yelled at Daisuke finally not being able to take any more of his foolish antics.

Daisuke just giggled though "But I know who your talking about!" he chirped grinning.

Krad's gaze snapped instantly to look at the redhead "You know who we're talking about!?" he practically yelled.

Daisuke nodded "Of course; all merfolk know who they are."

"Th-then who…?"

"They call themselves the 'Sea Serpents'" he grinned at Krad "they're said to live in places where the water is really deep like trenches and gorges and stuff but they usually congregate in a domed building not too far from here left about by the old days. Satoshi, Krad-san is right though; the Sea Serpents are the ones who started the killing." His grinning face saddened and turned morose "None of the Merfolk know why though, all we can say is that their groups are made up of children who've disappeared when young. We assume their kidnapped after their vanishing and try to go on with our lives. If we do ever see them again though their considered enemies as they'll always kill us first if we aren't the first to strike."

Satoshi could tell by Daisuke's saddened voice that these children were grieved greatly for. It seemed the whole world even the one beneath the waves was full of misunderstandings.

Krad seemed to be in quiet thought but then turned to Daisuke with an out-of-topic question "I've never seen that color with any of the mer-people I've seen before; is it rare?" he frowned.

Daisuke looked surprised and a little uncomfortable about this question. "It's not necessarily rare; more like my coloring is a little…brighter than some others."

Krad seemed to understand as he commented "You mean that your color is more like a rare **shade** of red."

Daisuke nodded "Right."

Satoshi felt a little annoyed that Daisuke was answering Krad's questions so easily; okay maybe he was just a little jealous at how well they were getting a long together.

"Daisuke don't you think we should be leaving?" he said coldly.

Daisuke looked at him surprised by his cold tone "Um well I was thinking maybe we could stay here a little while longer before leaving…" he trailed off when Satoshi glared at him.

"We don't have time; we've got to get home remember?"

"Ah yeah but…"

"…"

"…"

Daisuke sighed in defeat mumbling an "Okay."

"Why don't you want to stay longer Satoshi? Why not just remain here and let Daisuke find his way home by himself after all the chances of finding the colony ship you stayed on is close to none."

Satoshi shook his head "No."

He walked stiffly to the metal tub and roughly picked Daisuke up splashing water all over himself. "Waah Satoshi!"

Krad scowled at his brother's stubborn attitude; did he really like the pipsqueak **that** much?

Krad didn't move to stop him when Satoshi let go of Daisuke and Daisuke wiggling frantically around in his arms was able to save himself finally by getting into a diving position at the last moment. When Satoshi was about to jump after him Krad had to stop him. Rushing up to him he grabbed his shoulder and leaning down whispered "Does he really mean that much to you?" he hissed.

Satoshi glared "Yes and I won't let him stay here nor will I let him go alone" and defiantly tried to shake off the offending hand but Krad merely tightened his grip.

"You're not thinking straight Satoshi. If you go out there the way you are now you could get attacked by dangerous animals or even those Serpent people."

"Yeah well I'd rather take my chances with Daisuke then stay here." Satoshi had to wonder…where were these words coming from?

"Fine then if you're so damn set on this journey then…at least take me with you."

"No you can't sto…wha…wait what did you say!?" Satoshi stared at his brother dumbfounded.

"I said that at least take me with you."

"Ah but what about…" he gestured at the people sitting watching them.

Krad sighed and slid a mask of indifference on before turning and addressing the crew, he said "All of you I have decided to safely escort my brother to where he wishes to go; if I don't come back then assume I'm dead or I've found a new place to live where I can be near my brother and lead the rest of my life in peace. If any of you wish to quit the Water Viper business while I'm gone then there's no way I can stop you but at least do this a month after I leave." He cleared his throat "Lastly I will be putting Gastenn in charge; his rules are the ones you must now follow. You may disregard my rules all you want but respect the one rule I say now: Obey Gastenn with your life as long as you live here" he bowed "That is all."

He turned back to a stunned Satoshi and smirked "Come with me; there's a raft we can use to travel with." He stalked towards his cabin with Satoshi in tow and with a slight nod to Gastenn he gave his silent good-bye.

Opening then closing the door they stood once again inside Krad's cabin room. Strolling over to a small set of drawers he began pulling out various things and stuffing them into a burlap sack; once done he stood up and strode to the trapdoor, lifting it up and climbing down. Satoshi followed after closing the trapdoor; he joined his brother on the platform.

"So where is this raft you were talking about?" he asked quizzically.

Krad just chuckled and leaned underneath the metal platform and undoing some latches let a hidden raft fall to the water's surface. "For emergencies only but there's others just like it so the crew shouldn't be too bad off." He brought the raft over to where Satoshi and him could easily board. Made of sturdy logs that were lashed together with strong rope Satoshi felt quite a bit safer knowing they were going to be braving the ocean with this instead of just a small piece of mast.

They both boarded and Krad handed Satoshi a small metal paddle that looked like it was made from the same metal plates used for the platform. They slowly paddled out into the open and into the bright sunlight. Looking for Daisuke Satoshi didn't spot the redhead anywhere as his eyes swept over the mirror like ocean surface. Fear etched itself across his face as he realized the possibility that Daisuke might have already swum away thinking Satoshi was staying! Sweating a little he didn't notice the sudden shadow beneath the water's surface coming closer and closer. Suddenly Daisuke appeared out of the water with a loud splash. He was laughing as he grabbed the edge of the raft.

"WHERE WERE YOU IDIOT!" Satoshi couldn't help but yell. Daisuke stared at him in shock, his smile vanishing then he seemed to abruptly realize that he was supposed to answer.

"Ah I-I was just--"

"Whatever Krad's going to be coming with us okay?" He didn't even give him the chance to explain as he stood up carefully to help Krad unfold the small cloth sail in the center of the raft. With his back turned however he didn't notice Daisuke's obvious hurt flash across his face. Krad did however and understood immediately what type of relationship these two had.

"Do either of you know what direction to head?" Krad decided to ignore the warning signs though; maybe later he'd warn his brother.

Daisuke glumly shook his head as did Satoshi.

"So you've been traveling without even knowing where you're going?"

Satoshi sighed "We didn't know on which side of the horizon our homes were."

"Hmm I see; good I brought this then" and he reached into his bag taking out a round piece of metal with the letters N, S, W, E inside with a long pointed needle as well.

"What is that Krad?" Daisuke was very curious about the strange metal.

"It's called a compass and it will lead us to your home Daisuke."

"Really!!"

"Yeah it's pretty much a leftover of our parent's time when there was no water."

Daisuke's eyes widened considerably and he suddenly lifted himself onto the raft making it dip dangerously below the water; before either of them could reprimand him he was next to Krad holding out his hands to see.

Krad looked a little uncomfortable giving it to him but did so anyways. Daisuke held it in his small hands and tried to make sense of the strange device. Then Krad and Satoshi practically fell over when Daisuke tried to eat the thing. Krad immediately snatched it out of his hands.

Daisuke at once started to yell at how unfair Kad was.

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP!" he put his hands over his ears and dropped the compass in the process. Daisuke caught it and dived over the side giggling at Krad's expression.

"Silly silly Krad, silly silly Krad" and went on with that for awhile until Satoshi forced him to give it back but in the process had to catch Daisuke first. Satoshi was now sopping wet and he glared at the redhead who caused him so much misery.

"Dammit Daisuke your only causing trouble; go do something productive for once."

Satoshi had no idea however that Daisuke was only trying to get attention from the bespectacled boy. Daisuke felt a little lonely now that there was someone else to occupy Satoshi's thoughts. He sighed "W-well then I'm going to go and swim around for awhile okay? If I see the raft move then I'll follow its shadow from beneath" and with that he dived below the water's surface with a little flip of his tail.

Satoshi scowled at the blue green water and wondered why Daisuke was acting so weird when his brother suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "You really **are** clueless aren't you?"

"Huh? What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Satoshi stared at his brother as if he'd gone nuts.

The blonde chuckled and began unraveling his long ponytail "You're obviously hurting the boy with your harsh words. He is quite delicate emotion wise. I would never have thought that mermen could hurt so easily…or is it because it's coming from a loved one?" he combed his loose gold hair back and put the ponytail holder back in.

Satoshi spluttered "We are not in that kind of relationship!"

"Oh really? I think you guys are just trying to ignore your feelings. Don't fret Satoshi I can sense these things pretty well so if you need any love advice just come to me okay?"

'_Krad looks a little too happy'_ Satoshi thought, feeling suddenly apprehensive.

And as Satoshi thought this Krad was thinking '_Oh mother and father just look at your son now…'_

A/N: Wow, what a destructive relationship these two have...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

The next few days were seemingly normal as Daisuke swam beside them, occasionally coming up with fish for meals or if water was needed making it on the spot surprising Krad with the strange technique, other than that though Daisuke preferred to keep to himself for awhile.

Currently swimming below the raft he looked up at the diluted sunlight shining through the waves. The redhead was having complicated emotional problems; his heart felt like lead and he could barely hold a smile any more. Sighing a couple bubbles issued forth and he watched them slowly drift away then pop one by one.

Whenever his scarlet eyes met with Satoshi's azure ones he felt as if his heart would break. Something was seriously wrong with him!

Daisuke could see his shadow following him on the sea floor and he smiled a little at it as it scattered from a piece of coral that got in its way. Grinning now he swam down to the little coral reef that spread around him. The coral was too beautiful and enchanting to leave him feeling depressed for long; there were corals that looked like large brains and even little finger yellow anemones along with rock hard red coral stems.

A colorful clownfish lazily drifted by and Daisuke whispered a small hello. The fish slightly surprised wiggled its tail fin in reply and swam away. Daisuke smiled at the friendly fish. Most fish were friendly to the merfolk…except, of course, the predators. They weren't exactly fish you might **want** to see. Then a sudden shadow blocked out the diffracted sunlight for a moment and feeling uneasy Daisuke looked back only to see three large sharks heading his way!

Flashing his tail harder he sped through the water to the surface only to have one of them swerve in front, blocking his escape route. The one in front of him, seemingly the largest of the three, spoke in a gruff growling voice that made Daisuke think he was the leader "Hey kid, ain't you a long way a ways from home now? You ain't scared or nothin' are ya'?" They lazily circled him waiting for the right moment to strike.

Daisuke's mind went back to the red coral spear he had left on the raft and cursed that he had not brought it with him. Then sensing a sudden change in the shark's pattern he barely avoided the boss sharks killing strike, swimming up to the surface in a panic but something suddenly jerked his tail downwards and he was struggling with all his might to break free from the gripping pain in his tail.

He looked down to see the shark's brown encrusted teeth embedded in his tail and the other two swam closer threatening him with their combined malice. Then they attacked him all at once practically ripping him to shreds before he had a chance. Sharp teeth bit at him everywhere tearing him apart and ripping a muffled scream from his throat. His vision gradually blurred and he slowly sank into oblivion.

Dark had been traveling for days now in the direction Daisuke might have gone. He had asked the friendly inhabitants around the area if they had seen the red haired boy but none had except one. An old puffer fish had spotted him swimming towards the surface not three days ago. He had thanked her and moved on outside the city.

Dark had moved on outside the city and when he at last found another who'd seen him he went in the direction the fish pointed. In every area he visited from there, there was at least one who'd seen the boy and so he continued. Not too long after that he met a shark looking for dinner and without standing for nonsense from the creature he went up to it immediately and beat it into submission.

Describing his brother wasn't hard; shocking red hair and eyes and an unusually bright shade of red, tail. The shark answered without much hesitation as he had seen the boy about a week ago. He said he'd seen him carving red coral into a spear shape and gave chase when he saw he was alone. The shark had been hungry after all and Dark couldn't blame the animal for wanting to eat.

Going in the pointed direction he continued on his journey and unlike the shark he found many who said they had seen the unusual red tail but not the upper part so assuming it was him he followed.

About two weeks had now passed and the trail suddenly went cold. Dark not sure of what to do next was feeding on some seaweed when he heard a sudden scream. He immediately swam towards the sound and found a bloody feeding frenzy taking place. The screams made it evident that the trapped prey was obviously one of the merfolk.

Dark flashing his violet tail angrily dashed forward and speared one of the sharks with his red coral. The next he speared just as easily but the last caught on to its friends deaths and quickly swam away at top speed before he could be caught and killed as well.

Dark snorted at the retreating figure then turned to help the fellow in need when he finally saw who he had rescued.

_Daisuke? _

The boy was bloodied from the attack with deep gashes all over his arms and torso. The crimson mist blended with his hair and tail making him look like he was made of blood. Dark's heart practically broke when he realized this really was his brother. If only he had been here sooner he thought with anguish.

Taking hold of Daisuke's limp form he hugged him to his chest preparing to swim towards home but abruptly his senses told him of an incoming presence. He looked around but saw no one then looked up and saw a gold haired man with a butt length ponytail, in all white diving down towards him. Dark gaped at him. He was perhaps the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. The man though had no mer-tail Dark was surprised to see. Instead two strong pale legs propelled him through the water.

Dark watched him warily as he approached though; it was always best to approach a stranger with caution no matter how friendly they seemed to be. Dark watched him glance at Daisuke and his eyes widened in surprise and horror. Motioning for Dark to follow him Dark did just that and as they broke the surface Dark noticed a blue haired boy with glasses lying unconscious on a well built raft. He also noticed the other man staring at him in very uncomfortable way.

Worrying for Daisuke's life he snapped "Would you stop staring and help me help him!" The strange human seemed to snap out of his daze and climbed carefully onto the raft so as not to disturb the blue haired boy. Passing Daisuke to him Dark lifted himself onto the raft as well with even more grace than the other had despite his tail.

Dark watched as the man wiped away the blood with a cloth then took out some rolls of cloth and started rolling them around the boy's arms and torso to protect it from outside bacteria. Daisuke seemed to benefit a little from this as his breathing evened out and it just seemed as if he were asleep.

Dark placed his hand on Daisuke's wounded arm and he sighed. Why was Daisuke always the one being hurt? Dark had sworn he'd be there for his brother ever since…well he had promised, **promised** to be there whenever, wherever now… His shoulders sagged a little in sorrow. The man saw this and put his hand on Dark's shoulder.

"Don't worry; he'll be alright." Dark was surprised; the man's voice was fairly melodic like a merman's.

"Oh, ummm I'm sorry to have to ask but what is your name? Oh and mine is Dark."

The gold haired beauty chuckled "My name is Krad and it is a pleasure to meet you Dark."

Dark's breathing quickened and all the blood in his body seemed to rush to his head. Looking away his thoughts circled dizzily. Is it heatstroke? What's wrong with me!? A hand gently grabbed his chin and turned him to look at the source. Krad's face was so close; how had he not noticed him move closer!?

"I can see you're embarrassed around me" Krad chuckled as if this were a very amusing joke and Dark blushed. "It's obvious you're attracted to me and unlike my little brother I am very forward with my actions (ToT Finally Krad's acting like Krad should…)." He leaned in closer and barely brushed velvet soft lips against Dark's. Dark shivered and without meaning to, relaxed as the man wrapped his arms around his waist pulling him even closer.

Though Dark couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on through his hazy brain he knew he shouldn't be doing this; he couldn't understand it for it was just a feeling; vague and undefined. Dark's wet, iridescent violet tail slid out from underneath him as Krad pushed him to the floor and his spiky dark violet hair ruffled as Krad breathed in the scent of lavender and the smell of dried sea salt.

That smile was beautiful; an angel's smile but at the same time it hid the devil's own nature beneath. A sudden swishing sound from the other side of the raft made Dark wake up a little as he saw a pair of azure eyes open behind crystal glasses. They both stared at each other for a moment longer then…

"AAAAH W-what the hell are you doing with my brother!?" the boy shouted jumping up in a frenzy which rocked the raft dangerously trying to figure out who the new addition to their crew is.

Krad merely sighed "Oh well so much for **that**" he raised himself off of Dark and arranged himself accordingly beside him. Seeing Satoshi's still bewildered look he decided to try and clear things up a little "Look Satoshi there's nothing going on okay? I was just giving him a little…er…massage!" he ended.

Satoshi just scowled "What kind of dumb excuse is that Krad? I'm not gonna fall for something so undoubtedly lame." He directed narrowed eyes at the dazed and unknown violet haired man now sitting balanced on his hands behind him. Then Satoshi seemed to notice the fact that the man had no legs but instead a beautiful, dark purple that was almost black, tail adorned him from the waist down. His body was perfectly muscular; not too much and not too little.

Satoshi stared at his confused wine colored eyes. Wait a second those look kinda familiar…

A groan came from a wounded and ignored Daisuke on the other side of the raft. Satoshi gasped and had to do a double take when he saw the horrible wounds on Daisuke's body. "What the heck…What happened!?" he turned to Krad who looked a little put out still that he had been seen trying to "make out" with someone he'd only just met.

"Um actually Satoshi Daisuke was…**attacked** by sharks. He'd been gone for awhile so I went to check but I found this guy-his names Dark-holding them off all on his own. Don't worry; we only got back a few minutes ago so if you want to take care of Daisuke this would be your chance to **get somewhere**." He winked with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

Satoshi blushed and wandered over to Daisuke to do just as Krad said he should. Krad however was happy to help find something to occupy his brother's attention while he concentrated on the merman. However Dark wasn't exactly **helpless** now.

"You creepy jerk! How dare you take advantage of me like that! I swear I'm going to--"

"Now now calm down…" Krad waved his hands in front of his face protectively but Dark wasn't about to stand for that either; his brows furrowed in annoyance.

"I have half a mind to punish you by finding that shark and feeding you to him." He scowled harder but then suddenly turned morose. Looking over at Daisuke he asked "Will he really be alright?"

Krad was surprised at the earnestness in Dark's voice and couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy. "Of course he will Dark; don't feel too bad--"

Dark sighed knowing exactly the well disguised-although not well enough-feeling behind the golden haired beauty's words "I don't think you really understand Krad. Daisuke…is my little brother."

Krad stopped short with his comforting "Your…brother?" he repeated dumbly through the apparent fog of stupidity that had just been around Dark earlier.

"Yeah I came out here on my own looking for him after he disappeared. I didn't expect to find him all the way out here…" he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah but he will get better you'll see" Krad placed a reassuring hand on Dark's shoulder and gave him a small smile. Now that he knew Daisuke was only Dark's brother he could get to work.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Daisuke drifted in and out of consciousness frequently the next few days, or at least he thought they were days. He couldn't be sure if they were weeks or even months as he lay floating upon the gentle waves of the calm ocean. The pain and aches plaguing his body were slowly subsiding and almost healed he spent more time sleeping gaining back his strength in these final stages of recovery.

However though he was almost completely healed he still had an awful fever. He knew from when Krad and Satoshi administered to him. They talked constantly about it. It seemed that mostly what was wrong was with his insides instead of the outside wounds. The fever and especially the vomiting were becoming real problems since the absence of food in the red head's stomach was keeping him from gaining the nutrients he needed to heal the rest of him.

Then there were the strange fever induced dreams that Daisuke couldn't quite comprehend. They seemed almost familiar like he was reliving them from a past life of some sort. In most of them he was able to walk upon two pale slender legs that Daisuke in all his life would never have been able to imagine them on him! Besides that one detail Daisuke couldn't remember much else and through his musings was quite unable to discern reality from his strange dreams before long. They made his heart ache but he didn't understand why. The waves lapped against him as he drifted. Blue waves that broke across his scales making them shimmer like gems.

Occasionally when Daisuke awoke he would find someone administering to him; usually Satoshi or Krad but sometimes he would see the strangest thing. His brother, Dark, for some reason was sometimes there which Daisuke knew was impossible and reasoned with himself usually that it was just a part of his strange fever dreams but wished desperately for this to be untrue. He didn't want the illusion to go away even if it was just a figment of his imagination.

The bright yellow circle of the sun was just now breaking over the horizon and Daisuke found himself watching his first sun rise for the first real time in awhile; all the other times he had been too tired from swimming all night so he hadn't been able to fully appreciate it. The rope around his middle pulled lightly against his bare stomach and he floated amongst the peaceful waves watching the suns light turn the clouds pink and the water sparkling. A ripple to his right surprised him from his reveries and he turned to look at the disturber of his imaginings…and there was Dark. Daisuke blinked his brain not processing the sight before him.

His brother looked real enough but was he really?

Dark stared back into wide scarlet eyes.

He had woken up early after a long night and wanting to see if Daisuke was still okay he had crept to the edge of the log raft careful not to waken Krad. Ever since he'd met the guy he was extremely annoying. Dark could tell the blonde had an obvious thing for him and Dark in the least wasn't about to humor him.

Watching Daisuke's sleeping form Dark realized just how much he had really missed his little brother. He definitely didn't want to lose him again like that time. Their mother had practically gone crazy then but this time might be too much for her now that both of her sons had gone off somewhere unknown. He sighed, his thoughts beginning to wander.

How long before we're able to break this damn fever he scowled slipping into the water gently so as not to wake Daisuke. The boy had been feeling better but still…

Slowly two blood red orbs turned to look at him. Dark almost had a heart attack when he realized his brother was awake. Nervous he floated towards him watching the disbelief in the boy's eyes.

"Hey Daisuke it's me; your brother Dark remember." Dark would be patient until he realized that he was really there.

"Dark?" his hoarse voice whispered in disbelief.

"That's right. After you disappeared I came looking for you and it was really lucky that I found you when I did or else you'd be dead now."

Daisuke said nothing but turned away. After awhile of awkward silence he said "I had a dream last night that I was human and that I had legs just like Satoshi. I could dance and walk but then…" his brow furrowed in concentration but then he sighed "…then the dream cut off" he finished tiredly.

During this Dark had been growing paler and paler. He forced himself to respond though "I-I see. Well I'm sorry that it had to end." Dark knew he was apologizing for more than a disrupted dream but he said nothing else.

Daisuke nodded and then after awhile Dark whispered "Daisuke?"

Leaning over he found him deep in peaceful sleep. Smiling sadly to himself he whispered "Maybe one day when I'm braver I'll tell you the truth about that dream brother." He leaned over and kissed him on the forehead before climbing onto the raft to catch some sleep unaware of the pair of watching gold eyes in the dark.

The next day dawned bright and early as Krad set about waking the "crew". Satoshi watched his golden haired and eyes brother save Dark for last. A feeling of intense irritation arose within him and he glanced at Dark when their eyes caught.

Dark on the other hand had no clue why the icy-eyed kid was glaring at him, the Dark.

'Now if only I could make this idiot hate me too.'

"I'm going to check on Daisuke" he said over his shoulder as he slipped completely into the water; it was wonderfully warm.

"Hey Daisuke wake up; it's morning."

Daisuke opened his eyes only to see Dark grinning crookedly at him.

"So it wasn't a dream" he murmured.

Dark just laughed. "You still think you're dreaming Daisuke? Jeez."

"Here."

Daisuke jumped in surprise when a plate of smoked fish was thrust under his nose. He took the plate and was about to say "thank you" but realized that Satoshi had already walked away. Daisuke frowned and winced when he felt his heart give an involuntary twinge.

"Oh for goodness sakes, that kid needs to get over himself and fast" Dark scowled.

"Dark don't be mean" Daisuke scolded.

"Whatever Daisuke" Dark rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile Satoshi was fuming at the bow. How dare this guy just show up and steal HIS Daisuke? His—wait. Satoshi blinked.

'Since when did I ever get possessive over a person?'

While Satoshi pondered this Krad noticed the potential good the situation might do so sitting down beside his little brother he started by revealing his feelings hoping that Satoshi might do the same.

"I love Dark." 'Yup can't be more blunt than that.'

Satoshi who had been calmly staring out at the gentle waves started and choked on his own spit sending him into a coughing fit. Krad pounded his back frantically until Satoshi regained control of his breathing.

"Are you crazy!? The guy's a mer_man_ for God's sake!"

"So?"

"B-But-But—"

"Goodness Satoshi you sound like a broken record."

Satoshi's mouth clicked shut at that and scowled at the relaxed blonde.

Krad sighed seeing that he was getting nowhere he decided to try a different approach.

"Look Satoshi I've seen how people act when they're in love and you and me have the obvious signs."

Satoshi looked at him curiously. "Krad I hate to blow your bubble but I'm not in love with anybody."

Krad snorted at the absurdity of that statement.

"Oh really and why, pray tell, are you always looking at Dark when he's tending Daisuke as if you'd give anything to be in his place?"

Krad chuckled as Satoshi's mouth opened and closed in silent protestation.

"I-I" Satoshi was flabbergasted. How could he love Daisuke? Daisuke, after all, was a merman! How on earth were they to… Satoshi blushed when he realized what he was thinking and quickly cut off the thought.

Krad grinned wolfishly when he saw Satoshi's face redden.

'Step one complete, now for the confession.'

"Do _you_ love Daisukeee?" He dragged out the sentence pleased to see Satoshi flush even more.

"No" he said though he wavered as if he were uncertain.

Krad's eyebrows rose in mock surprise. "Oh really?"

"Yes" he said crossing his arms across his chest with a defiant expression plastered on his face.

"Mhm riiiiight…"

Satoshi looked at him sharply. "Are you calling me a liar?"

Krad studied his nails. "If you mean a liar to yourself, then yes…"

Satoshi's left eye twitched.

"…and a liar to him then double yes" he continued.

_That_ was the last straw and Satoshi found himself standing stiffly on a suddenly tilting raft. Krad reached up to pull the boy back down but stopped when he began speaking.

"_Fine_ Krad. You want me to admit it? I love Daisuke. Oh, not good enough? How about I LOVE DAISUKE!!"

Silence.

"Yeah I'd say that was good enough." He smirked while looking over at a very red and wide eyed Daisuke. Slowly, slowly the read head sank into the water leaving only a few bubbles to rise to the surface. Dark meanwhile looked like he was trying hard not to laugh.

Of course Krad had no such inhibitions and laughed his head off.

'Yup one problem solved.'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

For the next couple of days nothing really exciting happened unless you include Krad's weird attempts at seduction towards Dark. Satoshi and Daisuke pretty much kept out of each other's way though worry for what the other was feeling was starting to eat at them both.

These peaceful days came to an end, however, when all around them rose a ring of menacing merfolk who all held halberds in their hands ready to skewer the crew if they tried anything.

Four detached themselves from the group and without a struggle quickly tied up the group then grabbed them and dragged them into the water. Quickly they descended the merfolk pulling them along. Daisuke just happened to notice that each one had an odd tattoo printed on their arms: a sea serpent.

Daisuke's insides turned cold and he shuddered at what that mark represented. Daisuke glanced worriedly at Satoshi and Krad. They would die if they stayed down here much longer?! But they looked fine. Every few minutes the mermen holding them would stop and press an odd blue mask to their faces which was connected to an odd shiny tube. Whatever it was they did not die even after ten minutes.

Soon an odd structure came into view. It was a huge dome made from the same shiny material as the tube and the merfolk were heading straight towards it! Something was niggling in the back of Daisuke's mind. Why did this place look so familiar?

Odd looking doors slid open and they swam inside. The inside was only halfway filled with water and surfacing they saw a wide ledge that ran the length of the dome and was lined with cages. A single door stood between two of the cages and fear gnawed at his insides at the sight. Why was this place so FAMILIAR?!

Then suddenly the door opened and a man stepped out. He had short black hair and icy black eyes with glasses perched upon his nose. A chilling smile spread across his face when he saw them.

"Welcome. To you Daisuke and Dark I extend my greetings. It has been a long time since seeing you but you two on the other hand I do not know. May I ask your names?" His smile turned into a smirk.

Bewildered Daisuke looked at Dark but his brother only looked grim. Not seeing any answers the red head watched the drama unfold.

Krad answered for him and his little brother. "My name is Krad Hikari and this is my brother Satoshi. And you are?"

The man stared at him coldly. "My name is Kotaro Hiwatari (A/N: Sorry, it's a made up name, but it's the guy who's Satoshi's adoptive father in the manga.)." Then he grinned. "And you are my prisoners. Welcome to the hideout of the Sea Serpents." He spread his arms wide and then suddenly the mermen holding Daisuke and Dark dragged them underwater while Krad and Satoshi were towed to the cages.

Daisuke tried to free himself. No way was he letting Satoshi out of his sight. He loved him and he would never-- Love? Since when did he? But he didn't get a chance to finish that thought as he was stuffed into a cage himself at the edge of the circular room beneath the ledge up above and before he could recover a metal shackle clamped around his tail. Beside him the same happened to Dark. Then the merfolk left.

Daisuke could hear screams coming from up above and he swam desperately trying to get out but the bars were unbreakable. Eventually he grew tired and he let himself sink to the floor of the cage. He looked over at Dark and wondered how it had come to this.

"Daisuke?"

Daisuke looked up in surprise. Dark hadn't looked like he would be talking any time soon.

"There's something I need to tell you. Something that you would have learned when you turned eighteen but…I think you deserve to know." Dark looked miserable and Daisuke just couldn't understand.

"You see…Emiko…our mother…she isn't…"

"Isn't what?" Daisuke whispered, a growing foreboding rising within him.

"She isn't our real mother. I'm not really your brother. Almost all of the families of the Merfolk world are made up of pieced together members."

"But-but-I-I" Daisuke couldn't take the shock. He just stared at the one he had called brother and felt his heart rip in two.

"I know you don't recognize this place quite yet but I'm sure you will eventually. I remember. Our mother remembers. Our father, grandpa. Everyone. You lost your memory due to the transformation. It was too much stress for your weak body and—"

"Wait transformation? What are you talking about?" Daisuke stared at him wide eyed.

Slowly Dark turned his gaze to Daisuke's. "That man up there created us. He was one of the scientists who understood the danger that was coming to this world and prepared for it. He kidnapped people, experimented on them and eventually created a mermaid. One who could breathe under water and swim and such. He gave us the abilities to create pure water and to heat food without fire. He gave us the skills to survive in the coming age. Then he froze us until the great flood at last came and began to release us one by one into the wild oceans."

"What about us? Did he freeze us too?" Daisuke asked in a whisper.

"No, he kidnapped us from a ship colony. We fell from the balcony one day much like how Satoshi ended up with you but Kotaro found us first. He experimented on us and made us the way we are. We were lucky to survive. The procedure isn't fail proof and many of the subjects died." At that he turned away and said no more.

Daisuke couldn't believe this! It was all too much…wait. Once again his insides froze as he processed something that Dark had just said. "Will…" he gulped "Will he try to transform Krad and…Satoshi" he whispered.

Dark's head snapped up at that. "Shit!" he snarled and he banged his fists into the bars and inside Dark realized something. He had been so busy paying attention to Daisuke he had had no time to examine his own feelings for a certain someone… Could it be love?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Soon Dark and Daisuke began formulating a plan to escape. They complained and soon the guard growing annoyed came over to teach them a lesson but once near Dark laid a heavy punch to the guard's stomach then his head. He went down like a rock and quickly Dark snatched the keys unlocking the manacle and the cage then setting Daisuke free.

Hurriedly they swam to the surface and gazed around. Neither Satoshi nor Krad occupied any of the cages anymore.

"What are we going to do!?" Daisuke moaned.

"Hush" Dark muttered and ducked beneath the surface pulling Daisuke with him.

Soon the sound of feet came closer and the door opened. Kotaro came out dragging two familiar people but they looked half dead. Their skin was very pale and their eyes dilated so that the pupil completely took up the entirety of the eye. Both were shivering and looked very sick.

"Dark what's wrong with—"

"Shh Daisuke. Kotaro's already gone through with the transformation. We need to get them out of here though before he decides to mark them and keep them as his own personal body guard."

Daisuke gulped but nodded. When Kotaro left they rose from the water and slipped over to the cages unlocking them as quietly as they could and helping the unresisting boys slide into the water. Already upon their necks three slits on either side were beginning to form. Soon they would be able to only breathe in water. The tail would follow.

Dark began swimming down with Krad and Daisuke with Satoshi but just as he was about to dive something grabbed him around the neck and pulled him back wards toward the ledge. Gasping as he was pulled from the water he dropped Satoshi and gasped out a demand for Dark to take them and go. Dark hesitated but saw the wisdom in this decision and quickly fled.

Daisuke flopped about as he was pulled completely out of the water. He couldn't breathe!

"Hah! Thought you could get away with your little friends did you" he snarled and kicked him in the gut. Daisuke gasped. He kept kicking him until finally he got bored and grabbed him by the neck, dragging him through the door and up the stairs.

At the top was a long row of metal tables and accompanying tables held syringes and odd vials of liquid. Daisuke shuddered through the pain.

Kotaro slammed Daisuke onto a table and strapped him down the boy's tail still flopping weakly about and his gills flapping open and closed trying to obtain air from the nonexistent water around him.

Kotaro leered and grabbed a pail of water nearby pouring just a trickle upon the poor boy's face. Daisuke gasped and tried to take in the water somehow but the smear of water merely passed his gills by and no oxygen was gathered.

Moaning he tried to pull against his restraints but failed. He was too weak. Kotaro left but came back soon enough with a stand attached to a large metal bowl with water inside it. Taking Daisuke's head, which was hanging off the table, he plunged it into the bowl and immediately Daisuke could breathe again. He sighed gratefully but the mad scientists' grin was less than comforting.

Dark swam as hard as he could with the added cargo and once outside the dome searched for a place to hide. He found a coral patch not too far away and quickly took residence there.

Horrible fear was gnawing at him. Daisuke was still inside. What was he going to do?

Twin moans came from beside him and he looked back over at Krad and Satoshi. It looked as though their gills were completely established and their tails would soon be forming. Guilt plagued him and he shuddered. It was his fault he and Daisuke had been captured that first time and changed and now he was responsible for these two's situation.

He watched as slowly scales began to form upon the smooth skin becoming diamond hard in just a few minutes. They began to creep lower, covering more skin, melding the legs together, no longer separate. Satoshi's were looking to be a light blue and his brother's a startling gold.

Dark watched and watched and soon the scales reached their ankles, their feet flattening and spreading outward to make an elegant yet strong fin. And then it was over. They were now mermen.

When Satoshi woke he found himself looking up at a very hard looking piece of wood. It was incredibly colorful but it looked a little too bumpy to be wood. Turning his head to look about he realized that he was laying on sand and everywhere around him there was water.

With a gasp he realized he was under water. How long till he ran out of air; how long till he drowned?! Frightened he tried to sit up but found it difficult since his legs wouldn't unstick (A/N: Have you ever tried to sit up with your legs stuck together? It's extremely difficult). So he pushed himself up with his hands and by twisting his torso but when he sat up he almost wished he'd remained flat.

Where his legs had been was now an azure colored tail. It sparkled as light from above bounced off of it. He couldn't believe it. He was a merman. How had this happened? All he remembered was…that doctor! It must have been him! He had stuck this strange needle into his arm and then his body had felt like it was on fire! He shuddered at the memory.

Just then he noticed Krad and Dark sitting nearby. Krad also had a tail now but it was gold. Dark was talking quietly with him. From what Satoshi could hear it sounded like he was explaining why they had woken up with tails. When he did tell him Krad merely nodded, a sad smile upon his face. Then he took Dark into his arms and kissed him!

Satoshi stared in shock. Dark looked surprised as well but he didn't seem to care. In fact he looked a little pleased.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

(A/N: Hello everyone this is the last chapter before the epilogue. Have fun!)

"What in the world is going on!?" Satoshi shouted in panic.

"Hush!" Dark snapped.

"How can you say that!? I'm sporting a damn tail here. How can I just hush!?" Satoshi felt like sobbing. Where were his legs? Oh dear God what was happening to him?!

Dark sighed looking for some reason like a million years old. "Did you know that the mermaids weren't a process of evolution like most think" he murmured softly. Krad shot him a sympathetic look and took the merman's hand in his own. Dark smiled softly then sighed.

"This man, Kotaro Hiwatari, was one of the few scientists who were aware of what was happening to the earth. He kidnapped people and using a new serum he had created changed these people into mermaids and mermen; however for some reason he never changed himself. Daisuke and me were both born here at least in the mermen sense. Before we had come from completely different ship colonies but we met in the Doctor's lab after our ships went down in a terrible storm. Not many survived and those who did were captured and changed into Merfolk." Dark sighed and Satoshi stared at him as if actually seeing him for the first time.

This merman's hair was a dark black in the absence of the light from above. It swirled around him in a demonic halo from the water currents and his violet tail swished behind him agitatedly as he told his story. Finally Satoshi could see just why his brother must love him. He was very beautiful.

"Anyways Daisuke and I were able to escape and in doing so we let a lot of others free as well. We all traveled far before coming to an underwater city where we made our homes." He shrugged. "Sometimes I really miss the colony though."

Something was bugging Satoshi and so deciding to resolve this he asked "So where is Daisuke?" Dark's blanch didn't go unnoticed. Panic rose in him again. "Where is he?! Isn't he safe!?"

Dark took a rattling breath. "No…he's still in there. Kotaro snatched him just as we were fleeing with you. I have no idea what's happened to him." Satoshi was angry at Dark but he wasn't for long. The merman looked so crestfallen and depressed that the anger just bled out of him onto the tide.

Taking a deep breath he lifted his chin and said "Well it's obvious what we have to do isn't it?" Dark stared at him with no understanding but Krad was smiling approvingly. "We have to rescue Daisuke and if you're going to be all mopy and no help then I'll get him myself!" Unfortunately Satoshi wasn't able to make a very spectacular exit because his new tail wasn't responding the way he wanted it to. "Oh come on!" he scowled.

Dark chuckled and placed a hand on Satoshi's bare shoulder. "You won't be alone in this quest I assure you Hikari-kun. We'll get Daisuke back…and teach you how to swim!" he threw over his shoulder with a laugh as he sped off towards the dome.

Satoshi cursed and Dark just laughed.

Infiltrating the place had been easy. Dark threw a stone to distract the guard with the echo and then they all swam through the tunnel and up into a hole in the middle of the room at the very top of the dome.

Satoshi's eyes widened at the sight of all of the needles and gruesome tools that he didn't even want to know the purpose of but what broke his heart was the state Daisuke was in upon one of the tables. Even with his head thrown back into a bowl of water the rest of his body was suffering.

His skin was clammy and pale; his tail flopping wearily about with a dull red cast like that of dried blood. Satoshi gulped when he felt Dark's hand on his shoulder and looking up he met the man's worried stare with a pained expression. Dark nodded in understanding.

With a sudden splash he heaved himself out of the water and awkwardly began pulling himself across the metal ground. Kneeling he reached over Daisuke's straps and began pulling them apart as best he could. Daisuke raised his head weakly and watched him silently. At last the metal buckles came undone and Dark pulled his brother to the ground beside him.

The boy was a dead weight but Dark persevered reaching the water hole just as the door slammed open. Kotaro howled with rage and ran towards them but Dark merely slipped through the hole with Daisuke into the water then they made their escape.

Above Kotaro screamed in disbelief and glanced around trying to find a way out of this mess. Then he spotted a small red button beneath a glass case hidden underneath papers and manilla folders. An evil grin spread across his handsome face and he laughed as he began clearing away the junk.

Meanwhile Dark and the others were freeing the merfolk. There were no more humans anymore to be changed as Kotaro hadn't gone on a raid for awhile and so convincing the guards to run the dome was cleared out quickly and without warning just as they swam behind some rocks the whole dome exploded in a mass of fire and bubbles and steam.

A few mermaids were caught in the ripping force of the turbulent water and lost a few scales but nothing more. Everyone watched as the sand cloud remained taking hours for it to finally drift down and cover the sea bottom once again.


	13. Epilogue

22 September 2007

A/N: The actual date I finished this story. Cool, huh? Bet you didn't expect me to upload the last six chapters plus an epilogue in one day did ya'?

Epilogue:

After the company's brave and daring rescue the merfolk underneath Kotaro's evil spell were freed and went back to their families. Kotaro was of course dead and the Sea Serpents officially disbanded which led to the dissolving of the Water Vipers as well.

Daisuke and Dark returned home to a crying Emiko, convinced that her babies were dead. They all celebrated for days after that personally as well as with the entire tribe as the return of the kidnapped merfolk deserved celebrating too.

Along with this Satoshi and Krad came along learning the ways of the Merfolk beside their life partners: Daisuke and Dark respectively. They eventually married and had real children and not the adopted kind though they did take in a few strays.

The four of them became ambassadors to the Ship colonies and with the serum found buried in a basement beneath the sand of Kotaro's lab they asked the people if they wanted to come live beneath the waves. Some agreed, some did not but in the end, a new race was born in which it was the goddess of the sea that ruled.

The gang all lived to a ripe old age and their story of love that spanned races passed on to their children and their children's children.

The End

A/N: That has got to be the cheesiest ending I've ever written for a story. I guess I was just getting tired of it. It's amazing I even finished! I was considering not to but I realized that I had the rest planned out so well I might as well finish it. Oh well, cheerio!


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